Soros Exits Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Adds To Gold Position

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George Soros, through his Soros Fund Management LLC investment management firm, filed his 13F form today with the SEC, indicating some interesting position changes and new investments. Most notably, Soros exited a number of financial firms, such as Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM). Interestingly, Soros no longer has any substantial positions in financial firms, whether in the United States, or globally.

In addition to the changes in those positions, Soros also added Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to the portfolio. The 341,000 share position was worth $10.6 million dollars on June 30th, when the stock was trading substantially higher than today’s closing price of $20.38. Currently, the same position in Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) would be worth approximately $6.9 million. It seems as though Soros can be added to the long list of investors burned by the infamous IPO to date. Some other substantial names dot that list though, with SAC Capital and Tiger also adding Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to their holdings in the second quarter of the year.

Some of the changes in Soros’s positions indicate a bearish stance towards the markets, at least at the June 30th value date of the 13F filing. Soros took the proceeds of his Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) sales and invested a large portion of it in the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD), increasing his position to 884,000 shares or approximately $137 million based on today’s closing price. This holding represents two percent of his overall portfolio. Soros sold out of his gold position several years ago, and now it appears he is bullish on the precious metal. John Paulson is the largest shareholder of the ETF SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD).

Soros’s largest holdings by initial value, are quite diversified, including firms in communications, technology, and agriculture. Holdings over $100 million in value at the end of June include Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), Dish Networks Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), Motorola Solutions Inc (NYSE:MSI), Netapp Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT), Westport Innovations Inc. (NASDAQ:WPRT), and Adecoagro SA (NYSE:AGRO). The fund also holds several positions in corporate bonds over $100 million in value in names such as Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), Lucent Technology, Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ:WBMD), and JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ:JDSU).

The author has no position in any of the firms indicated above at the time of publication, nor does he intend to establish a position in any of the above firms within the next 24 hours.

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